ONGC files arbitration claim against Sudan over unpaid oil dues

The foreign acquisition unit of Oil and Natural Gas Corp’s (ONGC) has filed an arbitration claim against the government of Sudan in a London court, a company official said, seeking to recover dues pending for years from a roject hit by the breakaway of South Sudan in 2011.

People familiar with the matter in India and Sudan said ONGC had filed a claim for $98.94 million, in what they said was a first for the South Asian nation’s top oil and gas explorer against any government. They declined to be identified because they weren’t authorised to discuss the matter with media.

At the centre of the dispute is ONGC’s 25 percent stake the company acquired in the Greater Nile Oil Project (GNOP) in Sudan in 2003. Other stakeholders include China’s China National Petroleum Corp with a 40 per cent stake and Malaysia’s Petronas with a 30 per cent share. Read More